Nikolai Rudenko

The article presents the further research of the key part of «A Book to Burn» (Fen Shu), opus magnum of iconoclastic late Ming thinker Li Zhi (1527–1602). The object of analysis are the essays of juan №4 (chapter «Diverse Writings», Za Shu), the main ideas of which were formulated, e.g. praise of justice and faithfulness, the common nature of three teachings, potential of sage in every person, the priority of inner self-cultivation of the heart-mind, feminist views etc. Apart from that, the inner structure of juan was reconstructed: there are evident genre groups namely “Interpretations” (jie), “Opinions” (yu), “Letters” (shu), “About statues” (xiang), “Petition letters” (gao wen), “About things expressed in numbers” (shu), “Sets” (tao) and “About plays” (ju). This discovery can serve as a serious reason to dispute the point of editorial group of «A Book to Burn & A Book to Keep (Hidden): Selected Writings of Li Zhi» (Columbia University Press, 2016), who state that concerning «A Book to Burn» “no discernible logic seems to govern the presentation of material” and describes it as “an unruly hodgepodge of facts, opinions and impressions”.